I Will Always Love You
by InuFan-Kenhandora
Summary: Kagome saw him. She saw him with HER. Her heart was broken and she made the decision that she would go home, for good this time.


**I Will Always Love You - A Song Fic**

It was early morning in the Sengoku Jidai. The sun hadn't even begun to wake from its nightly slumber and the trees in the woods stood dark and silent all around a small group of travelers who, like the sun, were still resting. The air was calm, cool and crisp, not so much as a ruffle of wind hung in the air. The grass was still laden with small drops of crystal-like dew. Not a soul was awake, save for a few nocturnal creatures returning to their nests before daybreak. There was no sound to be heard, save for the quick and steady sounds of footsteps running from the campsite.

Though subtle, this sound was enough to wake only one of the sleeping travelers. Kagome, who always slept lightly during nights in the woods, slowly sat up, careful not to displace the kitsune at her side. She tucked a dark lock of hair behind her ear and examined the campsite, counting the dark lumps on the ground that were her traveling companions. She saw that everything was as it should be, save for one unaccounted person. At the far edge of the camp was a tall, wide tree that InuYasha had claimed as his spot before the retired for the evening some hours ago. Now, that spot was devoid of the silver-haired young man.

Her hand instinctively went to her bow and her quiver of arrows, knowing quite well that she would be needing them if something was happening that warranted InuYasha to disappear without a word at such an hour. A sound in the trees caught her attention. She turned her head ever so slightly to see one of Kikyo's glowing snake-like shinidamachuu hovering by overhead, a freshly gather soul tight in its grasp, and watched as it disappeared into the forest again. It was then that Kagome realized why InuYasha had left and not said anything to anyone. He wouldn't dare tell them that he was going to see his undead lover, especially with Kagome around.

She felt her cheeks heat up with anger as she let go of her grip on her weapon. Silently, she slipped out of her sleeping bag, the cool air bringing goose bumps to the bare skin on her legs. Carefully, she too tiptoed around her sleeping companions and out of the camp. She headed in the direction she had seen the first shinidamachuu go, watching the sky for others as she ventured through the dark woods, following the soul collectors and knowing they would lead her right to InuYasha, and to Kikyo. That thought made a jealous streak tug at her heart as she clenched her fists and moved faster.

The sun was just beginning to rise when she made it to her destination. She stayed back out of sight and made her way downwind of the couple, knowing that even the slight breeze that had just begun to blow would send her scent to the hanyou's delicate nose and alert him that she was there. She found a wide tree and stood behind it, listening and watching them together. InuYasha had his back to her and was silently embracing Kikyo as she returned that embrace. Kagome wasn't quite sure why she had come; just that she knew she had to hear what he said to her. She had to know what way his heart swayed.

"InuYasha, you come to me like this, knowing full well that I am nothing more than an undead clay being, when there is a living, breathing girl not far from her who loves you as much as you claim to love me. Why?" Kikyo asked, her voice soft and gentle as its sound met Kagome's ear. The young girl bent down and peered out from her hiding place, wanting to hear the answer that he gave.

"I, I don't know." he said, stammering a bit as he looked away from the intense gaze Kikyo had affixed on him. He clenched a fist, but relaxed it and brought the hand up to caress the woman's cheek. Kagome wasn't sure what he could be feeling with that touch, was it warm and soft like real flesh or was it like clay-cold and stiff to the touch.

"Tell me that you love me, InuYasha. Tell me of your affections. Say it is so." Kikyo demanded, though the lightness of her voice made it sound more like a question. When he didn't answer, Kagome felt her heart grow hopeful. He wouldn't say that he loved the undead priestess, though he said nothing of his feelings for Kagome, it still instilled hope into the young girl watching their encounter. Then, without a word, Kikyo leaned up and kissed him, and he did not pull away. Kagome's eyes went wide with surprise as she bit her lip to keep the pained cry from escaping her lips. The tears welled up in her eyes as she fought to control her heartbreak.

She ducked back behind the tree, pushing her back against the hard trunk and pressing a fist hard against her aching heart as the two broke from their kiss. Kikyo hugged him, a sly smirk upon her face that went unseen by both the hanyou and the heartbroken young girl. Kagome stood suddenly and abruptly, turning and jumping out from her hiding place. Kikyo jumped back, surprised that the girl had revealed herself instead of fleeing as she had assumed. The slight movement made InuYasha, who was still in a state of shock from the tender moment, turn to see what was there and felt his jaw drop slightly in awe to see Kagome there.

She could not hold her tears any longer and they flowed freely from her eyes as she let out a choked sob. Without a word she bolted past the couple, whispering ever so lightly the word of restraint that made InuYasha fall to the ground with a hard thump, but not so much that it harmed him, but it kept him there long enough for her to escape from the scene. Kagome was now in full tears, her cries only heard by the forest creatures just beginning to rise. She ran faster than she ever thought she could have done before, her feet barely touching the ground as she climbed over obstacles and stumbled back into to the camp, causing an uproar that woke her companions.

"Kagome, what is it?" Sango asked, flying up from her bed as she went to the girl's side. Kagome didn't answer, she simply grabbed her things, stuffing them hap hazardously into her large yellow bag before she swung it over her back. She got up again and began to run away, but Miroku stood steadily in her flight path. However, this did not stop her from fleeing. She pushed him away as hard as she could muster in her distraught state, but it was enough to knock him to the ground. Shippo, quite confused by this all, stood there rubbing his tired eyes with a baffled expression on his face.

Kagome ran and kept running as fast as her body would take her. She knew where she was going. She knew the way. They had been returning to Kaede's village so that Kagome could go home for a few days, and when they had stopped the night before, they had been not far off. She raced on; making it to the village in half the time she would have taken if she had walked, maybe even faster. However, at this moment, she didn't quite care as long as she got to where she needed to be. She soared through the village, startling the villagers and completely blowing by Kaede who had heard the commotion and come to greet the girl.

Her feet carried her out of the village and into InuYasha's Forest where the Bone Eater's Well sat dry and empty. It was her only escape. She made it there, almost completely windless by then. She slumped against the lip of the well in exhaustion, but took only a few moments to rest, knowing quite well that InuYasha was already on her heels, ready to make an attempt to catch her before she disappeared into her own time. He would try and make an attempt at a pitiful explanation of the recent events that had taken her place. She wanted to make sure she was gone from the Sengoku Jidai before he had the chance. With a strained huff she swung herself over the lip of the well and pushed herself off of the edge, falling into the murky depths below, to where the bottom was barely visible.

Soon she was falling into a seemingly endless void that was the link between her own time and that of the Sengoku Jidai. Her feet landed gently on the floor of the well, but her weak knees caused her to collapse into a pile in the dirt. Taken only a moment, she climbed up out of the well and collapsed at its side. She knew that if he tried to follow, she could easily say _osuwari_ and hopefully send him back to his own time. She couldn't bear to see his face at that moment.

_I don't ever want to go back!_ Her mind screamed bitterly as she found her voice lost to her._ He loves _**her**_, not me. He doesn't need me there, not as long as Kikyo exists on the earth. She can see the shards just as well as I can, if not better. If I were to stay with him and the others, I'd just be extra baggage to them all. I'm worthless. I'll just stay here, in my own time, where I belong. I know that I love him; I love him so much that it hurts to even think about it. Somehow I fear that I always will._

Her mind drifted as she sat there, to weak to stand or leave the well house. She shut her eyes and thought of all the wonderful memories that would be the only thing she would have left of the time five hundred years in the past. She thought of the Goshimboku tree. _We me there, he called me Kikyo._ Her eyebrows scrunched up and her teeth clenched together. She thought of meeting Kaede, Shippo, Sango, Miroku, and everyone else. The tears burned at her cheeks as she knew that she wouldn't see them ever again, but it was for the best._ I shouldn't be crying like this, like the little fool I am. They don't need me, they will be happier without me around. I'm sure of it. I'll be happier as well. I can go back to school. I can see my friends. I can go on dates or go to restaurants like normal girls my age._

She sighed dejectedly as she leaned her head against the well and thumped it against the wood in anger. _If all that is so, then why do I still feel all this pain? Why does loving him hurt so much that I almost want to die? Why? He can have everything he wants we me out of the picture. He can have the love of his life; he can become a full youkai. He has his friends; he has his happiness, so why can't I be happy for him? Now that he has Kikyo's love, he doesn't need mine any longer. In any case, I was only there to fill the void she left in his heart. I can never stop loving him, never. I know that, but with the distance of hundreds of years between us, it won't be that bad, or so I hope._

She sighed again, and forced her wobbly legs to stand as she got up from where she rested. She was about to leave the well houses, when she realized she still had the shikon-no-kakera with her, hanging around her neck. Slowly, she turned around and walked back to the well, staring down into it. In the dark well house, the bottom was nothing more than a dark emptiness. She pulled the shards from around her neck, holding the small bottle in her hand as the string attached to it swung lightly over the edge of the well. She shut her eyes and kissed the bottle, before extending her arm and letting them drop into the well, a small blue light glowing from inside meaning that they had passed back into the past where they belonged. She whispered a few final words before she left though.

"InuYasha, I _love_ you."


End file.
